Thursday, March 25, 2010

Lies - Big, Bigger, Biggest

This sounds so familiar, one would think current right wing strategists had cooked up the following last fall:

[The] primary rules [are]: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.

Actually, though, it's an excerpt from a description of "The Big Lie Theory" that is part of a profile developed by the Office of Strategic Services in World War II.The profile is of none other than the dictator everyone loves to hate, Adolph Hitler.

At the risk of offending some people, I contend that today Eric Cantor, who is Jewish, sounded an awful lot like this profile. I am not conflating Mr. Cantor's Jewishness with Nazism, but rather his rash words in a strategic situation that suspiciously mirror the theories of a detestable human being. That Cantor is a right wing radical should also speak volumes here regardless of his ethnicity or religious beliefs.

He said among other things:

That Democrats "were fanning the flames" by blaming Republicans for death threats and hate speech. (Never admit a fault.)

That hehas "deep concerns that some - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen and DNC Chairman Tim Kaine in particular - are dangerously fanning the flames by suggesting that these incidents be used as a political weapon." (Never concede that there may be some good in your enemy.)

That Bart Stupak, DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen, and finally DNC chair Tim Keane in particular are guilty, guilty, guilty. Cantor specifically focuses on Stupak. (Concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong.)

That "Any suggestion that a leader in this body would incite threats or acts against other members is akin to saying that I would endanger myself, my wife or my children." (People will believe a big lie sooner than a little one. We can also add a big "Huh?" to this line.)

Brent Bozell, the head of the extreme right wing Media Research Center, said in an online post at GOP USA. “It is deplorable that our national news media went into overdrive on this Democrat public-relations initiative.” (Never accept blame.)

“The message of our web site is clear, it is time to put Nancy Pelosi out of a job,” said Katie Wright, a spokeswoman for the RNC. In fact, the website shows a graphic of Pelosi engulfed in flames in front of the Capitol. (If you repeat the lie frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.)

"Enough is enough," Cantor said. "It has to stop." (The Big Lie itself.)

Cantor also reported that someone had fired a bullet into one of his campaign offices. If this was intentional, of course everyone should condemn it. However, one would have to search far and wide to find a Democrat who was letting loose with the incendiary rhetoric remotely similar to both mainline and fringe Republicans' rantings and images.Which is the point being made by Democrats.

A statement from the Richmond, VA, police department said a bullet broke the window of a meeting room in Cantor's office at about 1 a.m. Tuesday. "A preliminary investigation shows that a bullet was fired into the air and struck the window in a downward direction, landing on the floor about a foot from the window," the police statement says. "The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds."